Mother Of Mercy
by Zi-Dawg
Summary: AU   For him the only escape from the hells of life was when he closed his eyes at night and hoped for a better day.    Based on a True Story.


**Mother Of Mercy  
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I don't own DBZ

**xxx**

Life, what was the point anymore? Why was it ever worth it? For him the only escape from the hells of life was when he closed his eyes at night and hoped for a better day. It was all because he was weak, a low class worthless piece of trash. Or at least that's what he was told. What else was he to think? For every family member he once had, a tombstone had eventually taken their place. The only person he shared any connections with was his mother.

"Why God? Why do I have to be the one to still be alive?" The little boy cried with his hands clasped together. Thankfully there was no one near him or this would only result in another beating from a slightly superior.

"Why have you taken everyone away from me! I'm only 5 years old! It shouldn't be this way." He shifted his legs that were shackled together so they wouldn't scrape against the cement floors and cut him again.

First my dad. Then you took big brother Raditz away from me. Wasn't it enough God! Why did you have to take Turles from us too? Haven't you taken enough away from us? We barely survive each day as it is, so why God?" Blood infused tears fell onto the cold, lifeless body beneath the boy with the wild hair and he laid upon his late, older brother.

"Stop it." He kept crying. "Stop it." The older woman cried once more, but the little boy continued mourning the loss of his brother. "I said to stop it Kakarot! Stop your crying now!"

He sniffed and wiped the tears from his eyes as he tried to contain himself from losing it again, but he continued to shake.

"You're a Saiyan warrior Kakarot! You must be strong, for your own sake. You don't wanna end up like the others do you? DO YOU!"

"I do! I do! I wanna die already! It's not fair mama! It's not fair! Why did they all have to die! I-it, it's not fai-" His words became muffled as the mother stuffed the boys face into her breasts as she gripped her arms around his body and leaned her head on his.

"No! You have to stay strong Kakarot! You have to live on! You absolutely have to! For your father. For your brothers! You have to live on! No matter what happens, you have to fight for your right to live. I promise that one day you'll get out of this terrible place and you'll find a better place to live. You'll find your friends, and you'll have a family to call your own day. But you have to keep the fire inside you burning bright Kakarot!" Squeezing her remaining son tight as she can while feeling the pull of her own chains against her leg she turned her head.

"Wait! Wait a minute! Can't I just say one last prayer? Please! You must allow me this one wish!" The soldier chuckled to himself and waved her off to her last words.

She clasped her hands together and closed her eyes as she sat with her knees against the cold concrete for the very last time.

"God, if you are up there. Please watch over my son with all that you can. He's not very strong and he depends on others most of the time, but he really is a good kid, I promise. If anything, can I at least ask that you-"

"No mom! Stop it please! You're coming back to me please!" Kakarot cried out as he clipped onto his mother and wiped his face into her dirty rag coverings.

"Can I at least ask that you send an angel down to watch over him? He'll need all the help he can get so if it's not too much to ask, I wouldn't mind some extra help." The voluptuous woman unclasped her hands and opened her eyes and stared down to her for the last time before she was pulled from his tiny arms.

"NO! MOMMY! NO!" Young Kakarot screamed as he hit the floor and rubbed his chin. "Mom."

**xxx**

The passing days and nights would prove to be the hardest the young boy would ever experience. The feeling of truly being alone in the world was frightening to the young five year old cub. He was dirty, tired and most of all, hungry. Surviving this long was only due to his resolve to resort to eating whatever scraps he could find laying in the dirt or the garbage. Hell had to be better than this.

"Mommy. I'm so alone now. I don't know what to do anymore. I don't know if there's anything left for me to do but lay her and die. How am I gonna live without you or daddy or Raditz or Turles? My family, you're all gone. Why did you have to leave me here alone!" The boy with the seven spikes continued through in his misery as he curled up with his tail and cried some more. If it wasn't God who was controlling his life then it was surely the Devil. An angel had never come, only demons from the underworld. Demons who have taken everything he held dear.

The pain he felt in his withering heart was far worse than the hunger in his gut. Every day and every night he would fall unconscious with an empty stomach, until one day.

S-s-s-o hungr" With his mouth so dry words couldn't even escape his lungs properly. He was on the verge of giving up, failing, falling into the eternal darkness and welcoming it with open arms. When all of the sudden he felt a bump against the back of his head.

"Huh? Whu wuth tha?" He turned around and spun about trying to find the culprit of this mild pain. Nothing and no one else was around. His barely open eyes searched above, nothing. He then turned his eyes to the ground and finally found what it was he was looking for.

It was small and light. Red and bright with a small brown stem sticking out from it's top. It wasn't a circle nor was it square in shape. He'd never seen this before, then again he hadn't seen much outside the bars keeping him locked in.

He didn't what it was, but it had mass, and that meant it took up space. Maybe it could fill the ever growing void in his stomach. Slowly he brought the ripe mystery object to his mouth and opened wide.

"Mmm. It's, it's delicious." He took another bite, and then another until he had eaten the entire piece of food. That night he fell asleep with a small smile on his face. The first time he'd ever smiled.

From then on, every night that passed he would find this small red scrap near his back side before he fell asleep.

Years would pass until the young Kakarot built up enough strength and attempted his great escape.

After years of scraping his chains against the concrete, they had finally begun to crack. His opportunity had finally come. It was finally off. For the first time in his life he could feel the skin on his tiny ankles. It felt so off, like it wasn't even attached to his body. He tried standing up without the weight of the metal ball keeping him down for the first time. He fell, but it was worth it. He was feeling pain, but this was a different sort of pain. It was the pain of freedom. Maybe, just maybe he could put his plan to action now that he could actually move freely.

Hours passed on the day as Kakarot waited for the guard to leave to switch with another. It was then that he would creep out through the bars and make a run for wherever his legs would take him.

The switch eventually came. He made a run for it. He only had but a short two minutes before the next guard would come. His body crashed into the bars and he slipped and turned his body sideways to try and make it through the bars. Not having a very great diet all these years might have actually proven to be his way of escape.

First his head, then his left arm. Next came the better half of his body. Finally his right side. His arms slipped through with no problem at all. "Come. On! Come on leg! Come with me already." He gritted through his teeth as he pulled on his body.

With whatever strength he had in his arms he used to drag his leg through. His leg, it was finally through! Freedom! He could smell it! Finally after years of being stuck in that hell, he was finally free!

His legs began their full on sprint towards the outside. Until he was back at square one. It wasn't even five feet until he felt an unnerving pain at his backside, just pulling him back.

"OW! What happened! I'm free aren't I?" He took a look back at the prison and saw the culprit of his demise.

"M-my my tail." He cried as he walked back up to the bars and began to pull. "Come on. Come on! Get out of there already! Please slip through already!"

Five feet. Was that all the freedom he would taste in his entire life? It couldn't be. What did he ever do that was so wrong besides being born and love his family?

"Why! Why God! Why now? Why do you do this to me now!" Pulling was getting him no where and he was running out of time. There was only one thing left to do if he was going to live on. He had made his decision long ago to continue living. There was no way that an obstacle as small as a bloodline limit was going to stop him on his path to happiness.

With whatever energy training he had been taught by his brothers and father before their deaths he had to remember. His arms tensed up as he gripped his palms into fists. Slowly he begun to feel a warmth building up. He had it, he only needed a little to make it work.

While he still had it, he took a hold of his tail and instead of pulling it towards him, he ripped it right off.

"Gahh!" He bit his tongue as soon as he let out the short yelp. He couldn't let the guards here him. It would surely be bad if anyone came.

Now. It had to be now. He had to get out of there now while he still had the chance. Being as small as he was meant he didn't have much weight to carry above his legs. He followed the signs until he was led to the outside world.

He wanted to cry as he took in his first whiff of fresh air, but he still had a mission to complete, so he wiped his eyes clean and hardened his eyes on anything and everything that might look like a spaceship. He had heard from his father once before that Saiyans always travel in their own pod. So it had to be small.

"Something small some...thing small..There!" His eyes caught sight of what had to be his way out. It was small and shaped into a circle. All he had to do now was to find a safe path to, and into it.

He stared up and noticed two guards on duty. One looking to the left, the other was taking a nap. What luck. There was no way that one guard could look in three directions at the same time. So all he had to do was time it right and he was good to go.

A couple minutes passed as Kakarot timed the guards actions. Every minute his eyes would shift to another direction and would not fall until an exact sixty seconds had passed.

_'Alright Kakarot. Here we go. It's now or never.'_

The guard had shifted his eyes once more. He had sixty seconds.

_'GO!'_

He took off like a rocket for the tiny ship. He ran as far as his tiny legs would carry him.

Thirty seconds had passed and he was barely halfway there.

_'Come on come on! Just a little further!'_

Ten seconds to go.

_'MAMA!'_

Kakarot threw out his arms and made contact with the steel cold ship.

"Yes! I did it!" He screamed out. The biggest mistake in his life.

"Hey you! get away from there!" The guard had finally taken notice and begun firing at the cub.

"Come on! Open up! Open up!" The boy pounded his fists against the ship, forcing it to open upon his words.

"PLEASE GOD! HELP ME PLEASE! MOMMY! DADDY! BROTHERS! ANYONE! HELP ME!"

The shots were getting closer and closer. His hope was getting smaller and smaller.

He had next to nothing left in him to go any further. His body was at it's very limit. All those years of suffering were worth it to breathe in actual fresh air though. What minutes he experienced of freedom were the best in his life. He couldn't believe that this was how his story was going to end. The last member of his family, the bloodline was about to end.

He was content. He accepted the outcome. He lived, he fought, he died.

Until he felt something like he had never had before in his life. It was like a fire building up inside that was ready to burst! An open flame that had broken through it's container and exploded.

He felt it in his hands, he couldn't hold it. He had to let it go. What was this? Where did it come from?

"FREEDOM!" He couldn't care less what it was. All he knew was that it was the key to opening the space ship. He quickly jumped in and pressed every button he could find until it closed up.

He could finally relax as the ship rocketed into the dark abyss of space with nothing left in him to keep him awake.

_'Mom. I made it. I'm free. I'm. Fr-'_

**Critically wounded Saiyan detected. Activating Hibernation Mode**

**xxx**

"I'm not so sure about this."

"Oh quit your belly aching Kakarot. What dumb luck of mine it was that I would come to this mud ball of a planet and find you, another Saiyan already inhabiting it? I am your Prince and you will do what I say."

"Your not my Prince and my name is not Kakarot! I told you this already. I don't want anything to do with Saiyans. I don't want to be recognized as one and I don't want to be classed together with them!" The two tail-less Saiyans moved along the side walk, making their way to the tallest building in West City. They had a double date with two very special young ladies who were looking to start families of their own.

They finally reached the glass skyscraper and walked their way up to the last floor in the building where the two girls were supposed to be waiting. They walked in and Vegeta almost immediately spotted them. It wasn't that hard when one of them had bright blue hair.

"Ahem. Bulma?" The prince inquired as he walked up to the two fair maidens.

"Oh shut up with that you brat. We've known each other for years now, don't try and act cool in front of your friend." Spat the older woman.

"Hmph. Still a bitch."

"Yeah? And you're still a brat."

"Whatever." Vegeta rolled his eyes and pulled his friend forward. "This is Ka-Goku. And he's been very excited to meet you Chi Chi."

She was dressed in more than just formal wear. It was suited to be that of what a princess would wear. She couldn't be related to Vegeta could she? He couldn't be setting him up with his sister, could he? That would be way too weird for the shy boy.

"Really? Well it's nice to meet you Goku."

"It's uh, it's nice to meet you too Chi Chi." They shook hands and while it seemed like nothing to her, he felt something like a forgotten memory. A warmth like he couldn't remember. Her hand, so soft, so smooth, so welcoming.

The group of four sat down shortly after and ordered drinks and an appetizer to start. It was quiet so being the nosy and interested one, Bulma broke the ice.

"So Goku, what do you around here?"

"Huh? Oh me? I uh, I work at a dojo for this perverted old hermit. It's not much but I manage." He said not so enthusiastically while he ran his straw in circles through his cola.

"Oh? So you like to fight then right?"

"What? Ah no! It's more like self defense. I hate fighting." He quickly retorted before they get the wrong idea.

"Cheh, yeah right. You? Not like fighting? It's what you were born to do. He's an excellent fighter and could probably best me in a one on one. On a bad day. Hahaha." Vegeta bragged.

"Whatever Vegeta. Whatever you say. Anyways, since you know a little about me, how about you two? I already know about Vegeta." He said pointing to the proud Prince who was busy ogling the steaming steak making it's way to their table.

"Oh? You do? Hey Vegeta, he knows about you?" Bulma asked in that suspicious tone of hers whilst she crossed her arms.

"Hmph? Yeah."

His answer made Bulma all that more interested. She seemed much more intent on finding out who this Goku character was then her friend was. Chi Chi might as well have been absent from the table. She was just a mass taking up wasted space.

"I wonder how much you know about my little Prince over here." Goku shuttered. Did she know about what Vegeta was? And how did she know anyways? Did that mean she knew about him as well?

"Uh, well, ya see. I don't really-"

"He knows enough. Now quit prying woman." The man with the widow peak barked from across the table.

The four were silent through the rest of dinner as they ate a more than big enough meal for a couple of people. Desert was on it's way and the silence was still about. Goku was feeling really uncomfortable and couldn't wait much longer for this double date to be over. He badly just wanted to get home and go to sleep. It's been a long enough day after training with Master Roshi and then making the trip all the way across the sea and to the city.

The waiter had come and placed plates in front of each person before handing them their dish. For Vegeta, a piece of Red Velvet Cake. Bulma ordered a fancy little treat often called 'Lady Fingers' while Chi Chi ordered a simple slice of Original flavored Cheesecake.

But what caught everyone's eye was the dish Goku ordered. It wasn't exactly a normal desert dish, but his eyes absolutely lit up when he saw that they had Candy Caramel Apples. He just about jumped out of his seat when he was telling the waiter what to get him.

Bulma couldn't help the confused stare on her face as she watched the young man bask in his treat. It was almost like he had found a long lost friend. She had to ask what was up.

"So, Goku? What is it with apples that you almost killed the waiter to bring you one?" Vegeta knew where this was heading and he didn't like it. Goku had once told him about everything that he had gone through to survive. And even though he was supposed to be this cold, battle hardened warrior, he still knew where the line was drawn. He stared at Bulma intently as he attempted to read her eyes.

Goku finished chewing the bits in his mouth and gulped loudly as he downed the apple. He licked his fingers for good measure.

"Well, it's sort of a long story." He shyly admitted.

"Ah that's alright. We've got plenty o-"

"I said to quit prying woman! Don't y-"

"No. It's alright Vegeta. Really."

In the short amount of time he had known Vegeta he found the Prince to be a stubborn moron for the most part. But the part of him that Goku admired and what kept him around the shorter man was how close he held his friends. Vegeta pretty much treated Goku like he was a younger brother. He always felt safe around Vegeta, and he enjoyed it. But sometimes the little brother had to stick up for himself, he learned that while he was still in chains. In the end, he had to fight his own battles.

"Well, you see. Growing up I never had much. I was an orphan pretty early in my life and didn't have anything to call my own. All I had was my skin and the clothes on my back. More often than not I would go to sleep with an empty stomach. I was just about ready to call it quits. I was honestly ready to die."

Bulma snorted into her napkin and wiped her eyes. "That's so sad. How ever did you last like that?"

"Yeah, it was sad, wasn't it? It's just the life I was born into. Anyways. I was just about ready to die. I said my last goodbye, curled up in a ball and then..." It hurt just thinking about it. He gripped his chest where his heart thumped inside his shirt.

"And then what? What happened then?"

"He made it out alive alright! Obviously. He's sitting right here isn't he?"

"Hey! No one asked for you to interrupt Vegeta! He's trying to tell a very sad story here. At least be considerate enough to notice that you brat!" Bulma yelled back. At this the waiters had started their trot away from their table and secluded them to their own corner in the restaurant.

"Me? Be considerate enough? Are you kidding me? You're the one trying to get every detail of the man's life out of him in the span of two hours! And you're calling me inconsiderate? Hmph. Bitch.

"Brat!"

"whatever." The Prince scoffed and turned his head.

"So Goku. Can you continue please? If you don't mind that is?" She pursed her lips and showed off her sparkling blue eyes just for good measure.

"Uh, sure. Uh. Where did I leave off now? Hmm. Oh yeah. Alright. So there I was, lying in my filth, ready to die when all of the sudden, I feel something hit up against my head. So I looked all around, but there was no one there. Or at least not that I could see. It was too dark and I don't remember anyone near me. So I looked around until I found whatever it was until I finally looked down at the ground."

"It was best thing that had ever happened to me. I picked it up but I didn't know what it was. All I knew was that it was red and that it was actually there in my hands. I'd never seen one before, but I didn't care. If it was poisonous then so be it. At that point it was either life or death right?" She nodded.

"So I took a bite and. And." The grip on his shirt tightened, his eyes began to well up.

"Quit doing that. Quit your crying Kakarot. Be a man."

"I-I'm sorry Vegeta. But you know. It was the greatest tasting food I ever had in my life. It was most succulent, juiciest piece of anything my taste buds ever made contact with. I- I'm sorry." Taking a napkin, he wiped his eyes and blew his nose.

"Oh you poor thing. I'm sorry, I didn't know this was so hard for you."

"I told you woman! Quit trying to know everything about everyone. Who will ever want to marry someone like you who's always trying to know everything?"

"Rahhh. You! You jerk!"

"But. But that wasn't it. No. That was just the first time. And until then I never actually believed that any God existed. But that night I went to sleep, smiling. It was the first time in my life that anything worth smiling about had happened. But it was still short lived. What about the days to come? How was I going to survive the next night? Or the night after that?" Goku continued on.

"So what did you do? How did you keep on going?" Bulma asked. Chi Chi too was interested. Something seemed awfully familiar.

"I prayed. I prayed and I prayed that by some chance that whatever angel God had sent, would keep watch over me. And she did. For whatever reason every night I would sit and sit curled up in a ball with my tail between my legs thinking of when death would take me, if tonight was that night, the angel my mom asked to keep watch over me would keep on coming back with an apple every night."

"And for the next few years an apple every night is how I survived."

Goku finished up with his tale while Bulma paid the bill. Neither of the girls seemed to catch on to the bits of Saiyan talk that he and Vegeta let slip, thankfully.

The four walked out together into the cold night before splitting up.

"See ya later Vegeta. And it was nice meeting you Goku, really."

"Oh, thank you. It was nice meeting you two as well."

"Yada yada whatever let's go. It's a long way back home from here Kakarot."

"Goku." He snidely corrected.

The two Saiyan friends turned on heel and were just about to leave when Goku felt a pull on his arm.

"Huh? Oh, it's you. What's up Chi Chi."

Chi Chi was a shy girl. Always kept at arms length by her guardians due to her rebellious nature when left alone. She was quiet through the whole dinner so he couldn't help but wonder what she wanted now that it was over.

"Umm. Well, it's about your story and apples. I, uh. Well." Her face cringed and brought up this slightly pinking hue beneath her eyes.

"I have my own story about apples if you'd like to hear it?"

"What? Sure, any time." Goku replied, grinning his with his arms tied behind his neck.

"Well umm. I think you might want to take a seat for this."

"Umm. Ok? Hey Vegeta. Go on without me, I'll catch up with you in a bit alright?" Vegeta waved him off and continued walking alone.

"Ok, so. Where to start? Umm, well. First I guess I have to tell you about my hobbies while I was young."

"Your hobbies?"

"Yes. As a kid I was a very loud and rebellious teen. I never listened to my parent and always snuck out after dark. It was my way of having an adventure."

"Ok?"

"Ok. So, well this is where it gets interesting. So listen up. Well, one night while I was sneaking out I was pretty hungry so I picked a random fruit from the refrigerator and went on my way. But this time I didn't rake my usual route. I wanted to spice things up a bit so I followed some weird looking signs that brought me to an area where it was pitch black and the only light was a dimly lit candle."

_'Pitch black? One candle?'_ He followed in his head, still not putting two and two together.

"I was going to continue running, but I hit my head on something hard. I think it was a prison bar or something because when I felt around it was cold and felt round."

_'Prison bars'_ His felt his heart jump when he began to jump to conclusions.

"I didn't know what to do. I got scared and I looked inside the bars. What I saw was some little kid around my age, except he had a body that looked like it belonged to a cancer patient. He needed it more than I did, so I rolled my piece of fruit over to him."

Out of breathe. He couldn't breathe. He absolutely could not believe it. No! It wasn't possible! He clutched his stomach and doubled over while he let a waterfall of tears hit the ground.

"I don't know why I did it. But for a long time after that I kept going to that same spot and rolled over a piece of fruit to the needy boy. I felt, I dunno, responsible. Like I had to do it for some strange reason I still can't comprehend. But I'm glad I did it."

Chi Chi finished up her story and rubbed the man's back for a short time while he cried. When she felt satisfied she got and begun to walk away from the bench leaving Goku alone.

_'Mom! They're real! They're really real! Angels! They do exist! They do exist! God! Heaven! Everything! It's real! I met my angel and she's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen!'_

_I promise that one day you'll get out of this terrible place and you'll find a better place to live. You'll find your friends, and you'll have a family to call your own day. But you have to keep the fire inside you burning bright Kakarot!_

The words of his mother rung in his head as he picked his head up and caught up with the mysterious girl named Chi Chi.

"Goku? Are you alright?" He shook his head and threw his arms around the angel.

"Thank you, for everything."

**xxx**

A/N: Based on a true, and very sad story. Just fixed to work in the Dragon Ball World. I hope you enjoyed. ^_^


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